This was a heated and controversial topic at the City Council meeting with 20+ residents in attendance – many that spoke against approving Iroonet’s request to operate the boarding house. Dublin Ranch HOA President Dave Kay noted that the R-1 single family residential designation in his community precluded the Council’s ability to approve the boarding house request. Other homeowners expressed their concern that Iroonet is operating a for-profit commercial enterprise and that this is forbidden by the Dublin Ranch HOA guidelines.

In their final deliberation, the Council approved the 1 year Conditional Use Permit (CUP) request for no more than 6 student boarders. The permit will expire in June 2010 and will be reevaluated next March.

Related posts:

1. Request for Boarding House in Dublin Ranch Denied
2. Appeal to Add More Parking at Promenade Rejected by Dublin City Council

Some of the concerns and questions commonly noted by representatives for the Dublin Ranch HOA and residents in attendance were with respect to:

• Iroonet’s commercial status while operating in an area zoned for residential use;
• Number of children living in the home on Oakhurst Court (14 kids plus 2 caretakers);
• The actual number of bedrooms at the home (a living room was converted to a bedroom); and
• Parking challenges associated with having visitors at the boarding house (it was later noted that there haven’t been any parking challenges of late).

The Planning Commission is expected to ratify Tuesday night’s decision during their next meeting on January 27th. As Community Development Director Jeri Ram noted last night, Iroonet will have up until February 6th to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to the Dublin City Council (if ratified). There is a good chance that Iroonet will appeal the Planning Commission’s decision given that Iroonet is already operating a boarding house at the Dublin Ranch address (with the students in the middle of the school year) and that they have another home in Dublin that they would like to convert into a boarding house.

The Planning Commission also selected Commissioner Doreen Wehrenberg as Chair and Morgan King as Vice-Chair on Tuesday night. Commissioner Bill Schaub ended his tenure as Chair after four tremendous years highlighted by projects such as Grafton Station, Venture Commerce Center, Gateway Medical Center, and Tralee.

Related posts:

1. Dublin City Council Compromises on Dublin Ranch Boarding House
2. Appeal to Add More Parking at Promenade Rejected by Dublin City Council
3. Dublin Ranch Villages Parking Challenge